Movie Review: Cowboys and Aliens(2011)

When an uber romantic girl like me stumbles upon such a catchy and cool movie title, I can't help but poke my head in and find out what's its all about. I mean Cowboys? And Aliens? How does that work? Well, it does.

You see, a bruised and battered man woke up in the middle of the desert remembering nothing about what has transpired before. He did notice the strange metal contraption on his wrist that wouldn't come off. He is picked up(sort of) by a few travelling cowboys who challenged him. Now you see, if logic transpires, you wouldn't mess with the guy who would be MI7 in the future(story was set in 1870's America - we know it as Wild, Wild, West). Our mysterious hero reached a small town and fixes up a commotion, rendering himself  recognized as a capable man in the town.

That night, strange lights begins to appear and POOF! People are fished, yes, fished from the sky. A strange phenomenon also occurred where the said metal contraption started up and releasing such powerful ammunition that it brought down an entire alien ship. The survivors were distraught at the loss of their family members and they gathered a few men to go after the aliens to retrieve their family members.

Our mysterious hero also picks up bit and pieces of his memories as he goes on this journey. 

Later, after many more men died due to the alien attack, our mysterious hero and the town's 'leader' joined forces with the mountain warriors who are personally in my opinion were complete badasses. Imagine the strength you need to have to kill a 10 foot tall alien with single blow on the head with a simple wooden club.

This movie was enjoyable for these following things:

a) Daniel Craig's amazing endless legs and gorgeous bottom.
b) A hot bitch who would appear naked. Im a girl and I went OH YEAH!
c) The Mountain Warriors who displayed fantastic fighting skills.
d) The superb grossness of the aliens.
e) Daniel Craig's in it, dammit.

Overall: 7/10

Movie Review: Rise of The Planet of the Apes(2011)

 

The premise of the story is very simple. A gifted scientist is working relentlessly to find a cure for his father who is suffering from Alzheimer's. He was *this* close to getting permission to test it on humans when his prized chimp who showed success on his experiment went bananas(pun intended) and kind of turned off the board of directors they were going to suck up to. The chimp was killed but later discovered the real reason she went bananas - she had a baby and she thought they were going to take it away from her.

The scientist himself took to looking after the orphaned baby chimp who displayed signs of extraordinary potential for higher level intelligence since the first day itself and the chimp was kept secret for 7 years. One day, an unfortunate accident happened that resulted him in the chimp facilitation center. This is where it begins.

See? Simple storyline but what really captivated me was the human-like animation of the chimp and how they carried out.  Each of the chimp in the captivity have their own personality and even without them uttering words you can understand the communication between themselves because the body language, facial expression and movements was so vivid.

Much surprise awaits for you but I wouldn't want to spoil your fun.

My verdict is that the movie was truly enjoyable and it has this unique effect of making it's viewers not aware of the timeline. You wouldn't even know it ended.

Overall: 8/10

My Favourite Animes in Memebase Style Part 2 ~ Yuyu Hakusho

Part 3 coming up within a week!

My Favourite Animes in Memebase Style Part 1 ~ Hakuouki

Part 2 coming up!

Anime Review ~ Genji Sennenki Monogatari

Written in the Heian era of Japan(11th Century) by a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu, it has since been hailed as the first novel written.

I am desperate to get a copy of this in my hand grrrr...

It follows a tale of Hikaru Genji who is the son of a much loved concubine, Lady Kiritsubo of the then emperor. Due to this, he cannot be a crown prince and was given the surname Genji thus giving him a commoner social status. His mother died when he was very young and the emperor having been heartbroken over his favourite concubine's death found a  princess by the name Lady Fujitsubo who is said to be the spitting image of Genji's own mother. The emperor hoped that by marrying this princess, Genji would receive a mother he had lost. 

Genji did love her as a mother but later he loved her as a woman. He developed forbidden romantic feelings for his mother and thus found solace in romancing many other woman who willingly became his playthings. Throughout the book and in the anime series, his beauty is often spoken of and regarded highly. His story mainly focuses on his romantic escapades with many woman often having sad endings with them because he leaves them after finding another woman, thus leaving these unfortunate women pine for his return. 

~:::Hikaru Genji:::~

 

A calm and gentle man with a quiet disposition. He is well liked by his peers and family and just about anyone who meets him due to his impeccable good looks and mannerisms. Well, we can attribute this characteristic of his to his charming nature and polite speech. Not one woman have not yet fallen for this man by the mere sight of him. I personally disapprove of him using women to fill the void in his own life by giving hope to these women and giving promises impossible to fulfill. His own twisted love for his stepmother is causing the grief for many woman who had truly loved him. His selfishness had also caused a young woman's life. An uber-romantic person who is more interested in finding women who resembles his stepmother.

~:::Lady Fujitsubo:::~

 

The object of Genji's forbidden love. She is around 5 years older than him and she had asked him to stop visiting her after confessing his romantic love for her when he was around nine years old and she, fourteen. Since then, both him and her have shut their hearts for fear of making a mistake. She lives in a constant guilt and dilemma of refusing his love and her loyalty to her husband, the emperor. After many years of losing contact with him, she accidentally met him upon a chance when he too visited an old shrine they both used to play at when they were close and she made the biggest mistake of not refusing him. A son was born from their forbidden union. 

~:::Lady Rokujou:::~

A haughty and aloof woman with a reputation of being both a gifted poet and epitome of beauty and very cold towards men who shows romantic interests towards her. It could be because she's still upset over her husband's death. She is the widow of the crown prince(Genji's brother). At first she refused Genji's advances but with much coaxing and persuasion from Genji's part, she relented and even became obsessive of him to the point that she sent a Poltergeist to his new lover when he ceased his nightly visits to her. She had always been a lonely woman, with Genji in her life she felt alive and when he left her for a much younger woman...we could see she is going to the brink of madness when she lights incenses and speak to it as if speaking to Genji himself. 

~:::Lady Yuugao:::~

 

 

Possibly the most unfortunate of all his lovers, Lady Yuugao was the 'replacement' for Lady Rokujou when Genji decided her obsessive love for him was too overwhelming. They spent many nights together in secrecy to avoid scandal as Lady Yuugao is of common birth and this would upset his other lovers who are ladies of high rank and birth.She was killed in her sleep sent by the Lady Rokujou in the form of a Poltergeist that stemmed from the grief, anger and hurt from her heart. Lady Yuugao was nineteen years old.

~:::Lady Aoi:::~

When Genji came of age, he was betrothed to her. She was 4 years his senior and she absolutely hated this engagement because since small she was led to believe she would marry the crown prince and become the next empress but she ended getting engaged to a man of common birth and he still shamelessly philanders while still attached to her. She is always angry and upset because of this as many women mock her out of jealousy. She blatantly gave him the 'cut direct' when he tried to be friends with her. Even if he comes for a visit, she quickly shoos him away giving myriads of excuses but in the end she too fell for his spell. She died due to the Poltergeist sent by Lady Rokujou.

~:::Lady Murasaki:::~

A little girl he adopts because of her resemblance to *SURPRISE* Lady Fujitsubo. The story is narrated from her perspective of her life with him. She is the one Genji finally marries in the end. Yes, the very child he adopted grew up to be a beautiful woman and Genji marries her. Genji now needs serious psychoanalysis evaluation. It is revealed that she was the illegitimate child of Lady Fujitsubo's brother, hence explains the resemblance. By right, she would be his step-niece and yet he marries her...@@;

~:::Lady Misty Moon/Sixth Daughter of the Right Minister:::~ 

Well, Genji does have a thing for getting himself entangled with dangerous affairs. All the women he bonked had all connections to his closest of families and this one was no different. This lady is the wife of new emperor - HIS BROTHER. She lured him on secret night liaison and had a passionate night with him, much to the dismay of her oldest sister and father(who was afraid the emperor would find out but later) intends to use this scandal to overthrow him. She is well known for being a 'peculiar' and promiscuous in the royal palace. She is is the only one who is not obsessed over him and merely uses him for 'nightly benefits' just as he uses other woman. (a big fuck you to Genji in my opinion).

As the book progresses, Genji's life takes a turn for the worst as he loses these women one by one. 

1. Lady Rokujou took her daughter to another district to train her to be a priestess.

2. His father died.

3. His wife died.

4. Lady Kiritsubo, the one he loves the most left him to be a nun on a far away mountain to ease her guilt.

5. He is slowly losing his power in the court and is left in distress.

Criticism:

1. Over-romanticization

2. Too melodramatic.

3. Too much focus on beauty and passion instead of the logic behind it.

4. Strange and incestuous relationships are considered beautiful and acceptable here simply because they're unattainable and forbidden.

5. It greatly reminds me why I'd rather be a middle-class girl than be borne in a wealthy family. Geez, are rich people really that fucked up in the head?

6. Watch this anime if you don't wish to read the book, that is all.

Anime Review ~ Mononoke

Mononoke is a spin off from series of the anime Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Tales that encompasses classic tales from Japan. Just like how we have Ramayan and Mahabharatha in my Indian culture this is their version of classical tales. Each classical tales consists of elements of redemption and important lessons learned by each characters of the story. Though I really should have started with the first series which is the Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales, the spin-off is worthy of it's own mention.

If there is one thing that would capture an audience to this anime is the breathtaking artwork that uses spectacular surrealism art. I have watched surrealism art animation only once and it belongs to the French people who made Fantastic Planet and I personally thought the Surrealism is nightmare fuel even for saints but with  Mononoke, you would have mouth agape with beautiful, colorful animation and symbolic elements that challenges its viewer to decipher them.

Mononokes or Ayakashi are unnatural creatures that simply come into being. Their existence roots from the malice stemmed from the heart of a person, much like a Poltergeist. A peddler, simply known and called as the Medicine Seller travels from place to place solely to 'cleanse' the world of Mononoke.

It is highly known that the Medicine Seller himself is not of human origin but it is not explained either how he came to the profession of eliminating Mononokes. One can only assume he had been doing this for a long, long time since he seems to be able to predict a Mononoke's fate upon meeting him.

The Medicine Seller does carry medicines in his medicine chest that he straps at his back but obviously it is a decoy to hide his true profession. He carried a sword, much to the surprise of the people he encounters. You see, back then in olden Japan, only Samurais were allowed to wield a sword and a lower-class citizen like merchant and peddler are forbidden yet this formidable Medicine Seller carried a very fanciful looking sword.

However, in order for him to use the sword, he need to extract Truth, Reasoning and Regret from the Mononoke he is about to slay. Each story is not the same as we get to see people he encounters and their suffering, their hopes and regret and their redemption, starting anew to good and honest life.

The Medicine Seller is indeed a very good person though he doesn't flaunt it. He does his job and leaves for the next. Although the anime display some cheekiness by giving remarks on how good-looking he is. Sometimes, the Medicine Seller displays his own mischievous side.

First story(2 episodes) - about a lone woman who sought shelter in an inn that holds a dark and unforgivable past.

Second Story( 3 episodes) - The Medicine Seller is on board of a beautiful ship with passengers who have their own dark histroy but only one is the root of the Mononoke that haunts the ship when it accidentally(you sure?) sailed to the terrifying Dragon's Sea. Why are they all here?
 
Third Story: A depressed woman who was abused by her husband is sentenced to death for killing him and the entire in-law family. The Medicine Seller thinks otherwise.

Fourth Story: Four men are vouching to marry Lady Ruri, the only sole heir to the almost-extinct incense expert. Among them is the Medicine Seller, who came disguised as another man also vying for her hand in marriage. But knowing him, is it really his intention? Something evil comes this way.

Fifth Story: This time, the story is set in 1920's modern Japan and many people are attending the opening ceremony of their renovated subway trains. Interestingly, only a few selected people ended up in the first coach and a girl murdered on the train track who seeks her vengeance may have something to do with it. But what does a waitress, a policeman, a widow, the mayor and a milkboy got anything to do with it?

Spoiler: You would hope to see the Medicine Peddler to don modern clothes as per time but regrettably, he still goes around wearing a blue-orange kimono carrying that strange medicine chest around.

:

Our hero.

These are some of the screen-captures I personally took whilst watching this anime. You judge for yourself if the surrealism art is indeed breathtaking or otherwise. 

And a little gallery of our hero due to my very obvious crush on him. <3 XD

Our hero showing his soft side to an injured kitten. Watch the anime to know how it came to be.

That where he keeps his 'medicines' and...

His unusual looking sword.

Rating:

Art: 11/10
Storyline: 10/10
Plot: 10/10

This deserves an award, dammit! Watch this anime for its pure aesthetic value combined with badass artwork and plot. DO NOT MISS IT.

Superstitions

Taken from the The Amazing Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham.

This awesomesauce. It's only this one book though, I still have five others. =) 

So basically, what are superstitions? Easy, old wives tales woven into fanciful sentences to give something a mythical aura about them.

Take this for an example: black cats walking under the ladder symbolize bad luck. 

Haha! Some poor sod must have had a bad fall while on a ladder while a car just randomly passed through and somehow associated this with the cat. Hey, it is very natural for people to blame on something when bad things happen.

In essence, we associate some significant events to elemental surroundings. Pretty medieval if you ask me.

Superstitions are fun really but I believe behind it, there are very logical explanations.

Mr.Spock agrees. 

Allow me to take a few from the Amazing Useless Information Book and give my own (logical) interpretation. 

Sedap betul uncle nih tidur...

1. You will have bad luck if you don't get out of the bed the same way you got in. 

Random Reader(that's you): I'm calling bull on this one.

You should. I'm going to use science to explain this one. You see, when the body lays down on the same side for a long period of time, it gets numb and loses sensation temporarily. When relieved, the body goes into a minor pain and the rapid blood flow from the heart to the numb area makes the head a little tipsy. This tipsiness hence makes one in an irritable mood and what does one do when in a bad mood? We find fault on everything and channel our anger on things that has nothing to do with your condition. Your whole day is ruined due to the pain and hence this thing came up. Make sense now?

2. Make a wish should you meet a chimney sweep by chance, it brings good luck.

Random Reader: ...whut?

You see, chimney sweep are often thin scrawny little boys who are small enough to fit in the hole of the chimney to clean our all those soot. And these little boys are expected to do their job secretly like a ninja and make sure they don't bother the house inhabitants with their ruckus. Small children have yet to develop their motor skills and that leads to them sometimes slipping occasionally and dangle in the chimney pod. Therefore, these little ninjas are considered good luck because only very rarely these chimney sweeps slip from their 'workplace'.

  Pictured here: a jackass.

3. It is bad luck to open umbrellas indoors.

Random reader: I dont even...

Haha! Well, it makes sense really, a typical house those days are lighted by oil lamps dangling from ceiling. What happens when the oil lamp falls to the floor. Hint: those days, houses were made of wood. Yup, you guessed it.You can say goodbye to your house. So picture this scenario: you open an umbrella indoors, accidentally hit an oil lamp, it falls on the floor. Oh boy.

Pretty, no? <3

4. All windows should be opened the moment someone dies so their soul can leave.

Random Reader: .....

Right. I will use science to explain this again. You see, a few hours after a person dies, the stomach juices start to digest the body. Yes, we get eaten by our own body. This is what we call natural decomposition process and mark my word, the human rotting flesh gives a foul odor when it's lipids are broken. So to prevent that from happening, why not we take precautionary step and open the window so the stench doesn't waft in the room and save the trouble of making everyone uncomfortable?

Perfectly fitting song from my childhood.

5. Make a wish at the sight of a shooting star.

Random Reader: I have always wanted to know this.

Well you, see. Shooting Stars are just comets. A meteoroids traveling in space in such high speed that one only gets a quick glimpse! This rare phenomena happens only once every 78 years. Yes, that much of a gap. So yes, we can't help but think such a rare occurrence holds such a mystical value to it, solely because it's rare.

6. If you sweep out a room occupied by an unwanted guest, they are not likely to return again.

Random Reader: This might come in handy. Mrs.Moores from across the street is becoming such a pest nowadays.

Haha, this is common sense. When you have a guest, you don't clean the house or make a fuss in the room. You want the guest to feel as welcome as possible. When you sweep, clean or dust in front of a guest it shows disrespect of the highest form. It's as if you're pretending they're not there and continue to go about your business. This makes the guest uncomfortable, making them think they have come in at the wrong time and would think twice before visiting again, eventually not coming at all.

7. Itchy left palm, money coming in. Itchy right palm, money goes out. 

Random Reader: My head just exploded.

Well, this is one superstition I will agree upon because it has happened to me countless times and so far I have never been wrong. So yeah, I'm letting this one off the hook.

 

8. Starting a trip on a Friday will be met with misfortune.

Random Reader: Well, that sucks. 

No, no, it makes perfect sense. After a long and tiring weekend, we want to unwind and rest. Many people make trips in the weekend. Like-minded people on the road with the same intention begs one to want to hurry up and reach their destined holiday area. When people are impatient whilst driving, what happens? Car accidents on various fatality degrees. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to NOT be out and about in the road in the weekends.

A-choom!

9. Place a hand over your mouth while sneezing.

Random Reader: Well, that's a given-

Shush! I'm the one telling stories here! *ahems* . You see, when you sneeze, millions of microbes and bacteria will shoot as fast as 160km per hour. If sneeze uncovered, you will risk infect others with your sickness and oh that's just rude and disgusting. I DON'T WANT your saliva on my body!

10. Leaving the house by a different door than the one you used on entry brings bad luck.

Random Readers: This requires some explanation.

You see in my culture, people enter from the back door after coming back from a funeral. Why? Because front house entry is said to bring good luck and entry from the backdoor is said to leave bad luck outside the house. So funeral is considered a bad luck so we leave the bad luck 'outside' of the house by entering through the back door. Simply put, front door = welcome, back door = not welcome. =)

Right, this ends here because my head hurts from thinking all those (logical) explanations explanations.

Stay and read the rest of the blog, you scum.

Random Reader: OK! OK! Just don't kill me. T^T

Hakuouki SSL OVA

Well, you see...I'm a Hakuouki addict and I am just thirsty for more episodes that I desperately scavenge for them. I am happy to know that to date there have 2 special ova released. First OVA is simply called Cat OVA and the second one is Sweet School Life. If I'm not mistaken a game have been developed for this and today I am here to talk about this SSL OVA and the basic storyline for the school life Hakuouki.

Here's the OVA. It's a shame it's only 4 minutes long with no voice overs. Just sound effects and lots of midi music but it's enjoyable though. I will be doing a poor attempt at deciphering this silent movie here so bear with me. If you cant watch it in my blog just click on the video itself and it will bring you to the YouTube channel where it loads better. Should the user have removed this video, just type SSL OVA in the search tab and you will have plenty. =)



 Okay, from what I see is this. I may be wrong so don't count on me so much.

Heisuke and Chizuru are seen running. Obviously rushing because they are late for school. Heisuke still had toast bread hanging in his mouth as they were running Heisuke told Chizuru told hold his hand so they could run faster and oh! Guess who held Heisuke's hand instead? Yup, a wild Okita appears! Kinda like a creeper don't you think? @@; Some conversion ensues and Okita grabbed both Heisuke's and Chizuru's hand they soared in the wind. I suppose they reached school soon after because they were seen held at the gate by the very obvious prefect/disciplinary committee players by Hajime Saitou and Nagumo Kaoru. I am not sure if Kaoru in this OVA should be her brother or just someone who happen to look like her.

Tension arise as both Okita and Saitou banter in whether or not let these three in the school compound. When Heisuke whispered something to Chizuru, a wild Hijikata appears!!! Chizuru is stunned by his...er...beauty and we see his famous sakura petals falling about him, hair waving in slow motion and Chizuru staring at him like an idiot. Just then, the discipline/prefectoral committee decides to close the gates and let these 4 people stray at the gates. Seeing Hijikata-san humiliation, Okita took out his camera and took a picture of him. XD

Later, an assembly is seen. Okita stood out with his brown wool uniform when others were wearing green jackets over them.

We briefly see Harada, Nagakura, San'nan-san and oh, Hijikata-san(how did he get in @@;). I can safely say they are the teachers of the school.

Kondou-san is seen wearing a blue tuxedo and is obviously the principal. He seem to be announcing something and at this point ominous music ensued and we see Kazama and his gang approach the assembly mike and gave a short speech. Now here is what baffled me. Chikage said something that stunned the whole crowd, and Kyo Shiranui seemed to have panicked in what he have said. We see him thinking about 2 boys holding hands...so I am REALLY interested to know what Chikage had said to the assembly. His uniform seemed to be different. In fact, the 3 demons wore different clothes altogether! Chikage was wearing this white uniform so can we say he's a senior exchange student? Kyo was wearing casual sports attire so he might not be a student...definitely not a teacher so wth is he? Amagiri was wearing a fully black uniform with a bandana and armband so what is he then??? @@;

After the assembly, Hijikata is seen stomping though the hallway with students looking at him curiously...he first tried to reprimand Harada who seemed to be slacking and running about in the school. I can just hear Hijikata screaming "Kisama, nani o ishiteru???" and Harada escaped to a another corner of the school(major LOL here!). Later he sees Kondou-san practice his kendo techniques. Hijikata reprimands him as well for being so slack.
Then he sees Nagakura who seems to be doing Sudoku instead of attending classes. Hijikata is on the brink of exploding when he sees a notice that I think was written to make fun of him by some truants in the school.

A wild Saitou appears(!) and seemed to mend something in the notice and Hijikata stood chastised and Okita yet again took out his camera and captured another of Hijikata-san's humiliating moment for the day.

One thing for sure, there is never a dull moment in that school!

So the big question is...since the 4 older characters are teachers in this OVA, one would wonder about their subjects they teach. Well, I have come up with several theories.

Kondou san - principal
Hijikata - Economics, History or Literature teacher
Harada - History or Math
Nagakura - He's in sports tracksuit all the time, he's the PE teacher?
San'nan-san - seemed to wear a lab coat so I'm guessing Science Teacher.
Saitou: - committee member
Okita - 2nd year student
Chizuru, Heisuke, Kaoru - first year students.

Kazama and gang - I am still confused.

BUT FEAR NOT, MY PRETTIES!!!

Using my supreme researching skills I have found out some vital thing and I am much surprised by the result!

From Otomate Staff Blog 2009/12/25

Kondou: Principal. Owns a small kendou dojo.
Hijikata: Vice principal, also teaches classic literature. Lives near Kondou's place.
Sannan: School nurse and accountant. Mysterious in many ways.
Shinpachi: Math teacher. Surprisingly learned. Loves horse. But eats horse sashimi too.
Harada: P.E. teacher. Collage classmates with Shinpachi.

Okita: 2nd year. Has been studying in Kondou's dojo since he's little.
Saitou: 2nd year. One of the discipline committee. BTW discipline committee uses the science lab as their headquarters since they can't get along with the student council.
Heisuke: 2nd year. Childhood friends with Chizuru, but that's it (they're not dating).
Yamazaki: 2nd year. One of the health committee.
Chizuru: 1st year. The only girl in Haku Academy. Childhood friends with Heisuke. Is worried about her crooked brother.
Kaoru: 1st year. One of the discipline committee. Chizuru's twin brother. Adopted since birth so their have different family names.
Kazama: Head of student council. Was classmates with Hijikata. Always walk in the very middle of the hallway. Very disturbing.(BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It is these Chikage's little quirks that makes him so lovable!)


Oh my goodness...I got most of it right! But Harada is the PE teacher??? But Nagakura is the one wearing PE attire!!! Oh well....at least the mystery of Kazama and his gang is solved. So he's an admin in the school then. =D


Inoue: Head of Inoue Constructions. Also in charge of the school cafeteria.
Shimada: School janitor. Gentle and powerful. Has a passion for sweets.
Ito: Music teacher. Talent is violin. Is well known for making squeaking and hysterical sounds.





O-sen: Student of Shimabara Girl's Highschool nearby. Chizuru's close friend. Thinks Chizuru is having a hard time being the only girl there so keeps inviting her to transfer.
Kimikiku: Home economics teacher in Shimabara Girl's Highschool.Served O-sen's family for generations.

*Age setting in SSL has nothing to do with Hakuouki.



Haaa....writing this post have been most pleasurable and yes, I am very happy about how Hakuouki is evolving over time! <3

The Hakuouki Boys in their modern clothes! ULTRA LOVE!

My Family, Memebase Style.

Roald Dahl, You Win Again. ~ Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Ah! An underrated movie based on a much loved classic children's books written by possibly the most awesome man ever.

A little info of the author:

Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990(the year I was born so it's shame that I couldnt have met the man in flesh). Before becoming a british novelist he was a fighter pilot in WW2. He had 5 children by his wife actress Patricia Neal with whom he was married for 30 years. He had lost daughter Olivia to measles and dedicated The BFG to her. His son Theo had a terrible injury due to accident resulting in permanent brain damage.

He suffered from chronic back pain and was often in foul mood due to the pain. He loved the company of children as he derives inspirations for his stories. And the best of all he's a chocoholic! Is it wonder why his stories are always delightful?

Roald Dahl at an older age with his 2 dogs. 

Some of his works.

A full boxset of his books(all of which I own) except for one that's not in the boxset:

Dont want to get too detailed into this but I will tell you this: this is one disturbing book. Definitely

not written for children.

Now onto the thing I came here to tell you about. Fantastic Mr.Fox(try to find it in the boxset above!) the movie.

Made by Wes Anderson(The Royal Tenenbaum, Darjeeling Limited) in 2009, it received a 7.1/10 rating in IMDB. I think it deserves a full 10.

The basic story is this, Mr.Fox is a wild and adventurous fox who gets in trouble often for stealing farm animals and whatnot. One day, he gets caught and Mrs.Fox(who often goes hunting with him) made him promise that he needs to find another job if they managed to get out by next morning. The reason for this is revealed later in the movie. Weeks later, Mr.Fox is shown with his wife and son in a cosy underground house. He is not satisfied with his current life and decides to change things. Much hilarity ensues.

~:::Mr.Fox:::~

The tall and handsome fox who is notorious for his superb hunting skills and intelligence. A fearless if somewhat selfish fox who is always thirsty for danger. Yes, he likes danger. But despite his screw-ups he always manages to fix them back. Hence his nickname Fantastic Mr.Fox. 7 years 3/4 years old in fox age and about 30 in human age.

~:::MrsFox:::~

A beautiful fox famous for her beauty and equally excellent hunting skills, she was once hailed as the most eligible bachelorette in her time. Mrs.Fox is calm, patient, extremely supportive of her husband and an excellent painter. She has a thing for painting natural disasters like lighting and thunderstorms. Same age as her husband.

~:::Ash:::~

Mr. and Mrs.Fox's very tiny son who is 12 years old in human age and 2 weeks old in fox age. Ash suffers from very low self-esteem and inferiority complex due to his short stature. A socially awkward teenager who dresses...interestingly. See pictures above. XD He has a fierce rivalry(more like jealousy) with his cousin Kristofferson but come into terms later.

~:::Kristofferson:::~

A tall fox pup who is a little younger than Ash but a lot more talented and well-liked by his peers. His father suffers from double pneumonia(whatever that is) and stayed with Mr.Fox's family until his father gets better. Branches from Mrs.Fox's side of the family. Plus, he knows karate.

~:::Kylie:::~

A quiet opposum who became Mr.Fox's right hand man. Often underestimated by people around him due to his shy,clueless and quiet nature. He had a titanium credit card, much to the bafflement of Mr.Fox and everyone else.

~:::Rat:::~

Had bad blood with Mr.Fox. Reasons are unknown but he works as a security guard for Bean's Apple Cider cellar. Has an obvious crush on Mrs.Fox.

~:::Boggis, Bunce and Bean:::~

His name revealed to be Walter Boggis.

His name is revealed to be Nathan Bunce.

His name is revealed to be Franklin Bean.

Three mean and terrying farmers who is adamant on finding Mr.Fox because he steals their products.
Boggis is a fat man who only eats chicken all day. He weights the same as a young rhinocerous(as quoted in the movie). He is a chicken farmer.
Bunce is a duck and goose farmer who only eats buns filled with goose liver paste. He is knows for his short stature and wont stand in a 4 feet pool.(as quoted in the movie)
Bean is a turkey and apple farmer who is said to be the meanest of them all. Tall and ruthless, he lives only on a diet of apple cider and nothing else. This in result gives him a strong and foul temper.
They are so notorious with their mean reputation that the local children created a song for them(which is actually taken from the book itself).

If you're familiar with Wes Anderson's movies then you would enjoy the vibe and charming-ness of this movie, just like his other movies. =)

Difference of the book and the movie:

1. Kristofferson doesn't exist.
2. Kylie doesn't exist.
3. Mr and Mrs.Fox had FOUR children(3 boys 1 girl) and they were only referred to an the oldest, middle or youngest.
4. Mrs.Fox is the one who encourages Mr.Fox to steal from the farmers for their children.
5. Bean is said to be filthy as he never bathes.
6. Many minor characters in the movie doesn't exist.